Walking After You
by Nina La Vough
Summary: What might have happened if Woody would have gone after Jordan in DC instead of Garret...this Nina fic is piloted by Mad Madam Beth and NCCJFAN
1. Three Days and One Long Night

**This time Nina is Mad Madam Beth and NCCJFAN. This story is the product of a lot of "What ifs…." What if Woody would have followed Jordan? What if the search had taken more than a day or so…What if, what if, what if…..**

**And as usual…we don't own a darn thing.**

**Chapter 1: Three Days and One Long Night**

He was chasing her down a long alley, seemingly getting further away from her with each step.

"Jordan!" he called but she only looked back sadly over her shoulder and kept on walking. She moved slowly in contrast to his stride -- his feet slapping the pavement beneath them, his legs burning with the effort to catch up to her.

But he never got any closer.

With a start Woody woke and immediately covered his eyes from the sunlight streaming in from the window on the other side of the bed. He sat up slowly amidst the rumpled covers with a deep, tired sigh and a shaky yawn. He was tired. He was always tired after that dream he had of chasing Jordan through an alley way, down a path, across a crowded city street. The scenery of the dream changed often but the end was always the same and he'd awaken emotionally exhausted like now.

He looked around the room getting his bearings before he slid off of the bed scratching under an armpit gently.

It had been three days since Jordan took off for D.C. Three days since he'd gone to the bank, cleaned out the little account he kept for saving money to buy his antique robots and gone to Jordan's apartment stuffing a big sweaty, handful of money into her hand and a throw away phone which he had the twin to.

With another long look around the room Woody sighed and decided that he was finally at peace with what he had done. Jordan was innocent and there wasn't a person on this earth that was going to convince him otherwise. So he had had no other choice but to help her to get out of Boston, to get to DC and find the answers to why J.D. had been killed and why she had been framed for his murder.

Standing from the bed made Woody realize he needed to pee and he fixed the waist of his boxers as he walked toward the bathroom door and slipped in to use the toilet, passing the shower door filling steadily with steam from the hot water running inside.

It had been one night. One long night since he'd gone to the bank and pulled another large chunk of money from his main savings, paid his rent a month in advance and bought an AMTRAK ticket to Washington D.C. where he had called Jordan from the station to see where she was staying.

XXXXXXXX

"Hey…" he'd said tentatively when she opened the door to the motel slowly to make sure he was alone. When she was sure the coast was clear and she'd taken in the slump of his shoulders under the weight of the duffle he held on one side as well as the weight of the decision that had led him to this moment standing in front of her motel room, Jordan stepped aside to let him in.

"Hey…" Jordan echoed with a nervous smile and then quickly ushered him in further. "I'm…I just wanted to uh…" She watched him set down his bag and suddenly her arms were around him, holding him tight in a hug. "Thank you…thank you for coming down here.." she whispered meekly and Woody slowly brought his arms up to wrap around her.

With a typical Woody smile he pulled back and held her face in his hands. "Well, you know, I DID offer to take some time off and stay with you so.." he said and gestured a hand around the room.

"That was at my apartment, IN Boston where everything about this situation right now wouldn't be illegal.." she said sadly, ignoring the teasing tone of his voice. "But we're not in Boston, Woody, we're in D.C., I'm a fugitive…" she stammered out quickly and then looked up straight into his eyes. "You'll go to prison for this Woody, this isn't one of those things where you'll just get a slap on the wrists.." she said pulling back from his touch.

Woody watched her face for a long few moments, seeing the wall she kept around her heart rebuilding and knowing that if he didn't get through to her soon he might lose the last good chance he had at proving to Jordan that it didn't matter what happened to him because of this whole situation. She couldn't, wouldn't, didn't do this and he had to prove that for the sole selfish reason that he couldn't imagine his life without her.

"You think I don't know that Jordan?" he asked softly and stepped back towards her again. "You think I don't know that there's a very real possibility of going to jail MYSELF wh…wh…when." He stammered and ran a hand through his hair, laughing at the ridiculousness of the situation he'd put himself in for Jordan. "IF we go back to Boston?" he asked and took her by the shoulders when she stepped further away from him and shook her head.

"I'm…I'm sorry Woody." She said looking off across the room over his broad shoulder. "I didn't mean for any of this to happen…" she said on the verge of tears and Woody shook his head but she kept talking, her voice breaking with emotion and tears racing town her cheeks. "I…I…my relationship with J.D." she said looking away from Woody ashamed. "I cared for him..it might have started out being to..I dunno, get back at you in some way for the way you were treating me…but I DID care for him…hell, maybe I even loved him but…I…and we….I don't regret what happened at that Inn between us…but I wish that it hadn't been while I was with someone…and I wish it hadn't been…well, whatever it was.." she rambled and Woody took her cheek and made her look up into his eyes.

She took a deep breath, looked up at him for a long moment. "I wish J.D. hadn't been killed because of it…because I had to tell him the truth about what happened between us and he went to Washington and caught this story and…and…and then you were with Lu…and now…now he's dead.." she said with the last bit of breath in her lungs.

Woody looked at her for a long moment before nodding slowly and looking down at her. She'd just summed up the last six months to a year of their lives in one mother of a sentence.

"What do you mean you had to tell him the truth about what…what happened between us at the Inn?" Woody asked softly, his brow furrowed in confusion as he looked down into her eyes. "I thought you said Pollack had figured it out on his own," he whispered.

Jordan groaned the groan of a woman on the verge of one grand admission too many for one night.

"He…did." She sighed covering her eyes with both hands and rubbing them hard a few times. When she opened them again Woody was still looking at her in genuine confusion.

"But.." Woody started and Jordan shook her head.

"He did know…he said he could just tell from our body language, but he said he…that he thought we could.." She sighed again, knowing she eventually should tell him anyway and now was as good a time as any. "That it would be okay, he could forget it as…as long as it didn't mean anything." She said quietly and cast her eyes nervously towards the corner of the room.

There were a thousand things running through Woody's head as she spoke, wondering what it could be that had brought Jordan and Pollack's relationship to make or break. Admittedly, he was stunned when she said Pollack had been willing to overlook her little indiscretion but that shock had nothing on the shock that came next.

"But..he left…you admitted we'd slept together, he told you he'd forgive you Jordan…he gave you a second chance.." she cut him off again.

"Yeah, and I couldn't lie like a normal person." She said finally meeting his eyes. "I couldn't lie…not about that Woody," she said with a softness that made him go weak in the knees.

"About what?" he asked because he had to hear it from her lips.

It was Jordan's turn to invade Woody's personal space now and she reached out to hold one of his hands gently in hers. "I couldn't tell him that it didn't mean anything, Woody. I couldn't lie.." she said softly and he nodded slowly. "No, I don't mean like I couldn't tell him that because I didn't want to lie to him…I COULDN'T even say the words." She whispered. "I couldn't make myself say the words and he knew it…"

A half hour later Woody sat on the end of the queen bed in the middle of the motel room shaking his head at all Jordan had just told him.

"Malaria? Really?" he asked with an inkling of a smile. When Jordan just nodded and wiped away a few stray tears. Woody chuckled softly and shook his head.

"Jeez Jordan..this guy was in the wrong business, he should have been writing greeting cards." He said with raised eyebrows and a little smirk that made Jordan smile and cry at the same time. "Come here..it's okay." Woody whispered and held her when she slumped into his arms without a fight.

It was in the first few moments of really holding her and being aware of her body that Woody realized she was exhausted. He kissed the top of her head and smoothed back her hair gently. "Come on, you're beat. Let's get you to bed," he said standing and shrugging off his coat gently as Jordan crawled up towards the pillows fully dressed and Woody smiled. "Here…" he said giving her some pajamas that he found in a drawer. "I need to pee and my teeth haven't felt the healing touch of a toothbrush since yesterday morning," he whispered and headed for the bathroom.

"Hey Woody?" Jordan said meekly as she sat up on the bed. When he turned and looked at her through the dark she smiled slowly. "Thanks…you know for…everything," she whispered and he smiled back finally.

"You're welcome." He replied simply and continued into the bathroom.

Jordan watched him go, staring at the closed door long after he'd gone in and even after she heard him change and the electric toothbrush he'd brought with him turn on and off.

She was sure the morgue staff, her friends, were covering for she and Woody probably at that exact same moment. They always said they hated when she got on her tangents, whether it be about her mother or the price of gas but they'd lay down in front of a bus for her any day.

And knowing Lu Simmons and Rene Walcott were manning the controls to said bus, Jordan was sure that her friends were all feeling the heat for her.

After staring at the door and then the pajamas in her shaky hands for a few minutes Jordan finally began to pull off her clothes to change for bed. Woody was right, she was exhausted but it was nice to just be tired for the first time in a few days instead of tired and lonely.

She had just tossed her bra and panties towards the still open duffle bag she'd brought with her to D.C. when the door to the bathroom opened and an unwitting Woody stepped out in an undershirt and boxers. He was rubbing one eye and as his hand came down he glanced towards the bed to see if Jordan was settled in as he prepared to sleep on the little motel room couch by the door.

Jordan couldn't help but smile softly as his ears immediately turned deep red. "Oh..oh..I..I'm sorry, I'll just wait till you're.." he stammered backing towards the bathroom as Jordan was reaching for the big t-shirt and panties she was preparing to put on for the night.

"It's okay Woody.." she said with a calm, easy smile. "You've seen what I've got." She said trying to laugh and pulled the t-shirt over her head with a shrug. "And don't even LOOK at that couch, we can share the bed, we've done it before.." She murmured and slid into the double, looking more comfy with Jordan swaddled between its sheets than even the best bed Woody had ever slept in.

"Jordan.." Came his warning voice from his spot stuck to the generic Berber carpet beneath his bare feet.

With an annoyed sigh Jordan turned over, flipping her long hair out of her face and looked at him.

"Woody…I'm exhausted, you're exhausted and neither of us is in any shape to take advantage of the other tonight so…rest easy…and get the Hell in this bed before I have to throw one of my shoes at your head.

"Okay." He said quickly and took two long strides across the tiny room and climbed in on the left side of the bed. He knew it might mean another threat of footwear in his face but Woody leaned over in bed and placed a warm, loving, gentle kiss to Jordan's cheek.

"Good night Jordan," He whispered and turned back over onto his side facing away from her after tossing off his undershirt.

"Good night, Woody," she whispered back after a stunned moment of being overtaken by the familiar warmth that only spread through her heart when this man was near.

He had come to help her. Against all reasonable thought he had offered, without a moment's hesitation, to help her and here he was. Three days from the time she'd left Boston to seek the truth about her former lover's murder another truth had up and followed her down to help find a way to bring her home.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

With a few quick shakes and a flush of the toilet Woody turned to shuffle back out of the bathroom and prepare for the first of many long days of searching for answers.

As he passed the steam-filled shower once more a dark wet head peeked out of the curtain and smiled softly at him.

"Hey, mind handing me a towel?" Jordan asked pushing the curtain back a little more as she turned off the water.

With a playful but attentively long look over her trim, wet, naked figure Woody nodded slowly and handed her a thin white motel room towel which she quietly thanked him for and wrapped around herself before she climbed out to let him have his turn.

"No problem at all," he whispered as she slipped past him to go back into the room, speaking for more than just the courtesy of handing her a towel in the shower. He was letting her know that he was going to be there to help her in whatever way she needed him to help. The truth was, he'd do anything for her.

_Hell,_ he thought with a wry laugh as he climbed in the shower himself a minute later. _Lu was right after all._


	2. Watching the Clock

**Chapter Two**

**Watching the Clock**

Lu impatiently tapped a pencil on her desk as she glanced up at the clock one more time. Ten. Ten as in a.m. Ten as in the morning.

Two hours after eight. Eight as in a.m. Eight as in the morning. As in the time when work started. As in the time when Woodrow Wilson Hoyt was supposed to either be seated at his desk or in his car out on a call.

Instead his desk was empty and his Boston PD-issued detective vehicle was still parked in its appropriated slot.

She had tried not to notice. As a matter of fact, Lu had tried not to notice a lot of things about Woody since he told her that they were through a few days ago. Like how dark blue his eyes got when he was angry. Or the broadness of his shoulders.

But mainly she tried to ignore the completely lost look that would creep across his face when confronted with the fact that he could lose Jordan forever.

Jordan.

Lu's lips turned down at the thought of the woman. As a ME, Jordan Cavanaugh was in a class by herself. Dedicated. Driven to find the truth. Finding evidence that other ME's might routinely overlook. Every homicide detective with the Boston PD wanted Dr. Cavanaugh on their side, because heaven help you if she wasn't.

As a woman, Jordan remained in a class by herself. Leggy. Brunette. Smart. Street-savvy. Independent as hell. Beautiful. Curvy. Feminine competition of the highest caliber.

The apple of Woody's eye and the owner of his heart, if the truth be told. Positions that at one time Lu thought she could fill, but soon realized she never stood a chance to plug that Jordan-sized hole in Woody's soul. So Lu admitted defeat, though not without somewhat of a fight.

But the minute Jordan had gone missing, Lu threw in the proverbial towel. There was somewhat a look of panic that spread across Woody's face…and then he completely shut Lu down and pushed her out of his life. They really hadn't spoken since Woody told her he would not help her put an innocent woman in jail.

Then the bartender from Lily's wedding turned up dead. Woody had answered that call. It was his case and he wouldn't link it with Lu's until Jordan's fingerprint turned up on the dead man's jacket.

And then Jordan turned up missing. For a fleeting moment, Lu thought that Woody may have had something to do with her disappearance, but he had an iron-clad alibi. He was at the precinct. Then he took this call. He and Jordan hadn't talked in 24-hours. Phone records…personal and private…had cemented his story.

She glanced up at the clock once again. Eleven. It was now eleven o'clock. Three hours since he should have been at the precinct. Reluctantly, anxiously, somewhat nervously, she flipped open her Nextel and tried radioing him. Nothing. Pushing her blonde hair behind her left ear, she hit three on speed dial to reach him by cell phone.

Nothing.

Tap, tap, tap…the pencil was hitting the desk again in nervous agitation. With all the emotional turmoil that Jordan's leaving had caused, maybe Woody was sleeping in a few hours…trying to regroup a little and get a better emotional toehold in this slippery mess. Four on speed dial – his apartment. "Hey…this is Woody. You know what to do…BEEEEEEPPPPPP." His voice mail.

"Woody….this is Lu…you're late and we were worried. When you get this, give me a call…."

Determinedly, Lu tried to push him out of her mind as she reached for a stack of files she needed to wade through and sign off on. By the time she was finished, the clock read 11:30. Still no call. Turning to her computer she pulled up the court schedule. Maybe he was supposed to testify today. Maybe he had to give a deposition. Anxiously, she scanned the rosters. No. His name wasn't listed anywhere.

Eleven forty-five. Maybe he was at the morgue discussing evidence with Nigel or Dr. Macy.

Or maybe he was talking about _her_, reliving old memories. Revisiting old dreams. Trying to piece together where she was at and why. Now too edgy to stay at her desk, she walked quickly over to the morgue. She knew she wasn't welcomed there any longer, a fact that had swiftly been made known to her the minute she and Woody had started dating. But the knot in her gut told her that any discomfort she had about facing any of the morgue staff would have to be set aside until she nailed down Hoyt's whereabouts.

"Nigel…have you seen Woody?" The lanky criminalist was the first morgue staff she encountered as the elevators opened and she stepped out.

"Woody….no. Not since…the day before yesterday."

"You're sure?"

"I believe I am. Yes. We were going over the evidence of the Sorkinson case…."

"You're positive?"

"Yes, love. I am. What's the rush?"

"I need to speak to Detective Hoyt and can't seem to locate him."

"So you thought he would be here." Nigel folded his arms defensively across his chest. "Why?"

Lu eyed him warily. "You know damn well why."

"Jordan's not here. Now you're welcome to have a look around and see if Detective Hoyt is here now or been here this morning. I haven't seen him."

"And I doubt anyone else here would tell me if they had seen him, either."

Nigel didn't reply, just continued to hold Lu's gaze, which quickly dropped as she turned on her heel and strode down the halls, looking in autopsy and trace for a sign of the blue-eyed detective. A quick search, but one that turned up nothing. And Jordan's old office was locked and the lights were off. But a peek through the window told her that it was just as devoid of Woody's presence as the rest of the morgue.

The knot in her stomach tightened. Going back to her office, she flipped back on her computer and punched in a code, engaging the GPS on Woody's cell phone. A few seconds later she knew where the phone was at, but instead of answering questions, it just made her scratch her head harder.

His apartment. His freakin' cell phone was at his apartment.

Nearly blind now with a mixture of worry and almost-anger, she drove to his apartment. Maybe he was sick and couldn't get to the phone. Maybe he was hurt. Maybe the same people that had supposedly gotten to JD had gotten to him…maybe Jordan _was_ innocent.….She pulled a key out of her purse that Woody had given her to his place…it seemed like years ago, but in reality, it was less than a month.

She held her breath as the door swung open.

Neat. Clean. No sign of any foul play.

No sign of Woody either.

Abruptly she turned and left the living room, nearly running to get to his bedroom. She didn't even glance at the bed. She knew he wasn't there. Instead she threw open the closet door.

His duffle bag was gone. And some clothes. A peek in the bathroom…no razor, no shaving cream, no electric toothbrush. Panic began to seep through her bones. She returned to the living room and jerked open the top drawer of his desk, moving things around until she could reach in the back to where she knew he kept a small box with his passport in it.

It was gone.

But his laptop was still there. A few quick strokes and some luck with a password or two and she was soon checking his bank accounts. One thousand dollars was withdrawn four days ago. And another thousand yesterday.

Cold rage filled her. Whether it was because Woody's loyalty was now hitting her with icy reality or because Lu now fully knew she had been used, she wasn't sure. She was only aware that she flipped her cell phone back open and pushed two. She had thought about returning to Virginia as soon as she caught JD's murder case. She knew it would get messy and nasty – personally and professionally – as soon as she knew that the gun that had been used to shoot JD had been found in Jordan's hand. And emotionally, she wasn't sure she could handle it. Going back home had seen like a nice option.

But not now. Now she was angry. Angry, hurt, and betrayed. Not only did Woody know where Jordan was, he had helped her get there. Not only did Woody help her get there, but now he was going to her to help her even further. Now Jordan was not only in the bull's eye, but so was…

"I need to put an APB out on Hoyt," Lu told Rene' Walcott, as soon as the DA answered her phone. "He's missing, and presumed to be aiding and abetting a fugitive….."

"That's a strong accusation, Detective. Are you sure?"

"Positive. He's not in court, or at the precinct. He's not out on a call. His radio and cell phone are in his apartment. His suitcase and passport are gone. And two thousand dollars has been withdrawn from his savings account this week."

At the other end of the phone, Rene' sighed deeply. She liked Hoyt. He was one of the few truly good and honest men left in Boston. He and Jordan had been playing cat and mouse with each other's hearts for as long as she could remember.

But this was no game and Hoyt knew that. He knew the odds and was aware of the risks and consequences when he followed Jordan out of town.

Which to Rene' meant one of two things. Either Woody loved the woman enough to bear the burden of a long jail term when caught.

Or he was totally convinced of Jordan's innocence. And Hoyt maybe in love with the woman, but he wasn't stupid. If he was convinced that Jordan had done it, even accidentally, he would not have encouraged her to leave Boston.

Hell, Jordan wouldn't have left herself.

Rene ran her fingers through her hair. "Okay," she finally answered, a heavy tone in her voice. "Get the APB out. Get a search on for Hoyt's personal car. Set up road blocks. Have people check the airports, cab companies, Amtrak, the T…"

"I'm on it."

"And Lu?"

"Yes?"

"There is no shoot to kill order here. Just….just bring them home. Alive and with no bullet holes."


	3. Judgement

**Chapter 3**

**Judgment **

"You know…I AM pretty..ah…good with computers Jordan, I know this is a misconception you people all have being as that I grew up in Wisconsin.." Woody said over Jordan's shoulder as he sipped his Starbucks Caramel Frappachino and she continued to ignore him as she stumbled through cyber space.

"Jordan.." Woody said putting his cup down and placing a hand on her elbow. "I mean this in the nicest way possibl,e but please get the hell up so I can find what we're looking for in an EIGHTH of the time it'll take you.." he whispered and Jordan put her hands back, smirked and patted his cheek roughly with one hand.

"Be my guest," she said waving a hand over the used laptop they purchased a week and a half earlier when Woody had just gotten to D.C. The guy in the little electronics store had been surprised and a little suspicious when they paid for it in cash but Jordan, always the one to think quick on her feet, had wrapped an arm around Woody's waist, shifted her eyes around the room nervously and told him that they 'don't trust banks'.

"Okay…" Woody started and scratched at the mustache and goatee he'd been working on growing over the week. Jordan thought it would be smart that they hide their appearances since people from Boston would most likely be looking for them. Jordan had chosen the facial hair for him. He wanted to dye his hair black until Jordan told him she thought facial hair looked sexy on him. So he chose her change.

"Stop scratching it, you'll get those bumpy red marks and look like you've got herpes.." Jordan whispered and smoothed back a dangling piece of honey blonde hair and tucked it behind her ear.

"Sure blondie, whatever you say." Woody grinned and fanned through a few more pages of the notes JD had e-mailed to himself and thanked God Jordan was a nosy girlfriend for having known JD's password to get into his mail.

"You know I hope you didn't pick this color because it's the same as…" Jordan stopped short when Woody snorted and leaned back from the computer for a moment. He offered her a half smile and reached out to toy with a chunk of her newly dyed blonde hair.

"I picked it because your skin tone doesn't scream 'red head' and we're trying to look like completely different people Jordan…" Woody said softly and chanced leaning in to kiss her lips gently, feeling freer to do so when they were both hiding behind changes to their appearance.

When they pulled apart from the kiss the smoldering look that had been in Jordan's eyes since he joined her in DC was there, just behind the drive to find JD's killer, was the need she'd had for so long for this man, the need that had driven her to JD's arms when Woody had rejected her, seemed to always be there, just under the surface when they spoke. The electricity created by those looks always seemed poised to throw a spark and set fire to something they both knew was inappropriate at the time. They were both now fugitives, they were away from the comfort zone their city, their friends and yes, even their jobs helped in fostering that budding relationship they had to grow deeper roots and sprout little blossoms.

But as Jordan put a hand on his shoulder with a light squeeze and leaned forward for one more quick kiss Woody thought maybe that wasn't entirely a bad thing. They were in D.C., they had each other and essentially no one else right now since they couldn't make any contact with the morgue staff.

"Okay…here we are…we left off at page….48 last time right?" Woody sighed and leaned back in the chair, stretching his arms over his head as he prepared to go on reading another chunk of the e mail attachment they had saved to the computer hard drive.

Jordan just sighed and nodded as Woody brought up the word document they had been dropping names of people they suspected might be involved in JD's murder thanks to him having written some less than kind things about them in the story he was working on.

Woody scooted over a little and made room for Jordan to pull her chair in a little closer to the screen. "I think we've got it about narrowed down to these two guys.." he said pointing to the two names that appeared most often in JD's notes. "Gordon is on the Supreme Court Jordan…this is like, serious, deep shit we're talking about here if he's behind Pollack's murder," Woody said softly and cast his eyes sideways at her over the keyboard.

Jordan nodded. She knew what he was getting at. Not only did this situation have the potential to land them both in jail but it was also putting their very lives at risk. Whoever was behind this didn't hesitate to murder a reporter dredging up information and Jordan didn't doubt they'd have no problem adding a medical examiner and a cop to that list.

"You're right…" she sighed and shook her head, the full implications of all this finally setting in. "Woody, really, this is MY problem, I was involved with Pollack, I invited him to Lily's party and…and got him killed…" she trailed off and looked around the room quickly before looking back to Woody. "and…and I can't watch that happen to you…I don't think I could handle losing you." She admitted with a whisper as if the very mention of it aloud would strike him down.

With a soft sigh Woody turned from the computer and laid a gentle hand over Jordan's on the little round café table. He looked into her eyes, making sure she knew what he was about to say was the God's honest truth.

"I told you a few years ago…" he whispered and leaned a little closer to her. "I'll go with you…you don't have to ask for my help Jordan, I'll give it to you…I AM your friend," he said.

Jordan knew this man was meant to always be there for her in some capacity. She had realized it when he had said those words to her over four years ago. She realized it when he had flown across the country to bring her home and she had realized it when she did the same for him.

"We're in this together now Jordan. You wouldn't even be here in the first place if I hadn't blown you off and basically sent you right into Pollack's arms.." he said reaching out for her finally, tugging her close in his arms and holding her tight. "You don't have to ask sweetie." He said again. "I'm here…I'm with you because it's where I should be and where I want to be and because I know that for all of your stubborn determination you can't do this alone.." he said and rubbed her back.

Jordan let Woody hold her for a long moment, just enjoying the feel of his arms safely around her body, holding her like she had hoped he could so many nights in the past and like he did one perfect night during a snow storm.

When she pulled back from his embrace Jordan could only see Woody and the rest of the people in the room faded away for a moment. "Thank you." She said softly, like she'd never really said it in earnest before. Maybe she hadn't.

As she leaned in towards him she saw the sky blue of his eyes darken to the deep sapphire of her birthstone. It was the same deep blue she'd seen in his eyes as they made love for the first time at the Lucy Carver Inn.

Woody knew it wasn't the time or the place but he didn't care anymore. If he didn't kiss her in the next half second he knew either his head or his heart would explode.

Their lips met softly at first, testing the waters of something that hadn't really been thought about or looked at since that cold winter night that they had closed the suturing on a cut they'd made on each other's hearts.

It wasn't until Jordan's hands came up to stroke across his collar bones and into his hair like that night in the Inn that Woody felt confident enough to gently rest his hands on her hips and deepen the kiss to the point his tongue was gently stroking her bottom lip, seeking entrance.

When they pulled back after a few moments that sapphire blue was still in Woody's eyes and he looked with them into the deep pools of whiskey staring up at him from Jordan's eyes.

"Jordan I.." Woody started but she silenced him with another soft kiss.

"Woody.." she whispered against his lips. "I don't know what I'd do without you." She admitted feather light and hugged him again. "Let's get out of here." She said softly and closed the computer in front of them.

Woody couldn't respond so he only nodded and put the computer under his arm. They threw away their coffee cups and Woody reached for Jordan's hand as they left the shop, knowing hers would be there to hold his.

They walked the two blocks to their fourth hotel room in a week and a half in a comfortable silence. There were wistful glances a light squeeze of a hand and every few feet Woody would stop to lean in and kiss her softly.

He stopped her in the hallway outside of their room and kissed her long and hard against the wall, no longer caring if they drew any attention. "Jordan.." he whispered with a shaky breath and groped for the key card in his pocket.

"Yes…" She answered simply in a breathy whisper. "Yes, Woody." She nodded and kissed his neck while he tried to open the door to their room. After a few failed attempts, he finally got the door open and Jordan, who had been leaning back against it almost toppled over when the door fell open.

"Sorry.." Woody whispered with a chuckle and wrapped his arms around her as he guided her to the bed.

"It's okay, I'm fine." She said back and stretched out on the mattress as he lay down on top of her. They kissed softly at first, finally realizing that this was it, the final step in their reconciliation, the step in unmaking what was up until this point a one night stand in the Lucy Carver Inn.

"I wish your hair was the natural color.." Woody murmured against her lips as they began removing clothing between soft touches and gentle sighs.

Jordan smiled and stroked his growing facial hair. "And here I am enjoying your change.." she whispered and kissed his lips hard. "But it's not the hair that matters Woody…I'm still me under it all.." she whispered wrapping her arms around his now bare torso.

With a wicked smile Woody reached for the clasp on her bra. "Oh yeah? I better check on that…thoroughly.." he growled and popped it easily.

They both had waited for this for so long, had felt it building since Pollack left Boston, since before Woody screwed up and fell into bed with Lu to somehow punish Jordan for being with someone else, and nothing short of half the Boston PD breaking down the door was going to get in the way of them being together now. "I love you." Woody said easily, like he'd been saying it to her all his life.

"I love you too, Woody," Jordan repeated and stroked her nails down his back and up his sides, making a chill run through her partner that had nothing to do with the air conditioning buzzing over the sound of their moans and sighs.

He had her pants off just as quickly as her bra had been taken care of and Jordan deftly unzipped his jeans and pushed them down off his hips, using her strong legs to pull them the rest of the way down along with his boxers.

It was much different this time than that first time at the Inn. It had been dark in the room, they had stayed under the covers for most of the encounter because it was so cold in the old room. This time there was a hot summer sun beating down outside and it's rays still filled the room, giving Woody and Jordan a crystal clear view of each other and their position lying together, as vulnerable as two people can ever be together.

It was Woody who was the first to speak as their bodies writhed on the bed, touching, petting, stroking like shaking hands with an old friend. "You're so beautiful..." he whispered and kissed a line from between her breasts to her lips. "Just watching you enjoy this makes me happy.." he sighed and touched her cheek with the back of one hand as the other slipped between them to guide himself easily between her open legs and into her welcoming heat.

"Just being with you here makes me feel like the luckiest woman alive…" she whispered between soft grunts and long moans as they began to move together, kissing deeply as they did. "I never thought I'd accept the idea of someone….wanting to take care of me.." she said letting her eyes roll back into her head at the onslaught of pleasure Woody was giving her body and soul. "But I let you do it without thinking anymore…I want to be taken care of by you…I've never felt that way with anyone before Woody.." she explained as they made love.

"I'm glad you feel that way with me.." he said grunting beside her ear as he began to move in earnest. "I do want to take care of you Jordan…in work, in bed, in life…always." He moaned, feeling his climax building.

"Yes…yes Woody…you already do…" she said and cried out as her orgasm washed over her hard, feeling Woody's pulsing through his body as well.

When they both lay together soon after, just holding each other amidst the rumpled sheets Woody played with an end of her blonde hair.

"You really don't like it do you?" Jordan asked with an amused look on her face. She wondered initially if he had chosen the color because it looked like Lu's but now she thought he didn't enjoy it for the same reason.

Woody shrugged and kissed her lips lightly. "It doesn't suit you…especially with those deep honey eyes.." he said looking into the objects he was describing. "No one I know has more beautiful eyes than you…and these eyes belong to a brunette, not a blonde.." he whispered kissing the spot between her eyes gently.

Jordan nodded with a smile that quickly faded as she looked off across the room.

"Why the frown?" Woody asked running the fingertips of one hand up and down her back.

Jordan was quiet a moment longer still before she answered. "Do you think she's part of the team that's looking for us both right now?" she asked and Woody's hand stilled at the small of her back and guided her to rest tighter against his body. The reality they'd just spent trying to chase away in bed suddenly came back to him with a vengeance.

"Uh..no, I think she's HEADING the team that's looking for us.." he said with a defeated sigh. "We have to find out who did this Jordan…" Woody said with an urgency that scared him so he knew it had probably frightened Jordan. He pulled her closer and turned over so that she was laying on top of him, the feel of her taunt, warm body giving him solace for the moment. "I don't want to lose you ever again."

"Then we better make for damn sure we don't get caught down here because I don't want to lose you either." Jordan answered back before lowering her lips to his and pulling the covers back over their heads as they proceeded to cement that promise.


	4. A Hero to be Had

**Chapter Four**

**A Hero to be Had**

"Oh God, no. Fucking no…No, no, no no…." Matt Seely's voice rose with each syllable as he read the fax that was coming into the Nineteenth Precinct.

Technology was a wonderful thing…e-mail, wireless internet…Blackberries and the like. But some things for the police department hadn't changed….and that included certain faxes that were sent out for city-wide and state-wide man hunts. Seely was used to seeing these, sometimes on a daily basis.

What he wasn't used to was seeing a fellow police officer's mug shot blared under the screaming headline of "Wanted."

But there it was. Woody's picture under the 72-point type headline, Wanted.

"Fuck," he murmured under his breath. "I wondered if he would…"

"And he obviously did," a voice with a very dry tone said behind him. Simmons.

"Lu…" Seely said, sighing and rubbing the back of his neck to hide his frustration. Whether that frustration from the predicament Woody now had himself in or the sheer frustration of seeing the detective/shrink again, Seely wasn't sure. He had never been at ease around Simmons, feeling like the pseudo-psychologist was analyzing his every word and movement. "So…"

"So get the detectives together. We need to talk. I want to find out if Hoyt said anything…even inadvertently….to anyone that might help us find out where he's at. I want everyone in my office in a half an hour. Can you handle that?"

Seely nodded and pulled out his Nextel, radioing in Framus, Cruz, and Santana. And Berman just for good measure. It wasn't likely that Woody told Berman a damn thing…no one did. But he didn't want Lu raking his ass over the coals for not trying.

As if any of that was going to make a difference.

* * *

Two hours later, the entire discussion between Lu and the other detectives that had worked with Woody had yielded nothing but more frustrations and tension headaches. Each detective went over in their minds everything and anything that Woody had said or done in the last week that might give some indication where he fled to.

And it came up cold when pointing to him leaving to help Jordan.

"We know he took money out of his bank accounts. A lot of money according to Woody's standards. He must have left Boston under an assumed name after paying for whatever tickets on whatever mode of transportation he took with cash. We've requested the security tapes for Logan, Amtrak, Greyhound, and the T…" Lu said.

"Greyhound?" asked Santana. "He had to leave Boston fast. I just don't see the 'Hound as being an option."

"But he may have taken it part of the way and then transferred into another mode of transportation or rented a car," Seely said, hating himself for even contributing to the investigation. He and Hoyt weren't exactly good friends, but he had silently rejoiced when Woody had given the blonde ice cube the shove and rejoined his loyalties to Jordan. Seely didn't understand Cavanaugh any better than he did Hoyt, but God knows Jordan was a hell of a lot hotter than Simmons over there.

"True. Everything….everything has got to be checked," Lu continued. "Woody didn't take his cell phone. He's cut off all contact. I hope to get the security tapes in this afternoon and our people are going to go over them with a fine tooth comb."

"You're not going to let Nigel handle that?" Berman asked.

Lu shot him an 'I-can't-believe-you-think-I'm-that-stupid' look. Or at least that was what Steely thought. It could have been her 'go to hell look' for as well as the detectives knew her.

"I…I..mean Nigel's the best at analyzing tapes and such. He's always done it for us in the past," Berman said with a stammer, trying to redeem himself by revealing his line of reasoning.

"Nigel works for the _morgue_," Lu said with emphasis. "Jordan worked for the _morgue_. Do you honestly think if he found something he would tell us?"

"I was just saying…." Berman trailed off.

Lu rolled her eyes. "Okay," she said, standing and dismissing the other detectives. "Keep thinking…if you remember anything…anything at all…any tidbit that Woody may have accidentally dropped to let us know where he might be headed, let me know. Is that clear?" she concluded, looking each detective in the eyes.

"Yeah. Sure…" they responded as the filed out of her office and made their way back to the bullpen. Everyone was quiet as Seely hung the wanted poster with Woody's picture on the bulletin board.

"He thinks she's innocent," Berman blurted out.

"No shit, Sherlock," Santana retorted. "But he doesn't just think it, he believes it…knows it."

"We all do," Roz said suddenly, speaking for the first time since Lu had hauled them into her office. "We all know that Jordan Cavanaugh is capable of a lot of things, but murder isn't one of them. And Woody knows that, too."

Seely sighed and hit the wanted poster with his fist. "I just can't believe…."

"That he'd run to her?" Roz asked

"That he'd lay it all on the line for a woman…as hot as Cavanaugh is. That he didn't confide to someone here…"

"Who? Then he knew he would have put us in between a rock and a hard place. Do we keep our loyalty to him or do we do what would be required of us? Rat him out?" Framus said, eyeing her fingers. She needed a manicure. And a pedicure would be nice…and relaxing after all this. She'd get one right after….

"I still don't understand it. His career….his whole Boston PD career is on the line here. And while it's not a stellar career, it was still pretty damn good. All on the line for a woman…Surely there was some other way…" Seely continued.

"But there wasn't." Framus said, reaching for her jacket and her pocketbook. "There was no other way and Woody knew it. He's also head over heels for the woman so I don't think in the long run comparing his career to a life without her would even hold water."

She paused a long moment before she left the bullpen, turning around and facing the other detectives. "Let me tell you kids a little something about love. Love is strange. It seldom makes sense. But you never know how far you're gonna go with it until you have to make the jump. Hoyt made the jump. And you gotta admire that when you're dealing with someone like Jordan Cavanaugh."

* * *

She crossed the street and hurried to the morgue, a case file under her arm as pretense. Roz knew eventually Lu would end back up at the morgue grilling everyone, especially Garret and Nigel about Jordan. Did they know her where she was at? Had she contacted any of them?

Their personal and business phone records wouldn't be far behind. E-mail records would be next. And she'd bet her new pair of Kate Spades Lu already had taps on the morgue phone lines and Nigel's and Garret's personal lines. "Hey, Nige," she said breathlessly, as she rounded the corner to his office. "Buggles…."

"I have asked you not to call me that," Bug responded, not looking up from his computer.

"You asked me not to call you that _here_," Roz answered with a smirk. "You never said I couldn't when we were…"

Bug's expression cut her off. "Anyway," she continued, "Nigel, could I see you and Garret for a minute? It's about the Sorkinson case.." she held up the file.

"I thought Seely was handling that," Nigel began but the look on Roz's face made him shut up. "Sure. I think Garret's in his office." He took Roz by the elbow and led her across the hall, tapping once on Garret's office door. "Dr.M…"

"What is it Nigel?" Garret's strained voice answered. If Roz hadn't already known how worried Garret was over Jordan, his voice now belied him. And she wasn't sure if the news she was carrying would add to the stress or relieve some of it.

"It's Roz…she said she has something to discuss with us over the Sorkinson case?" Nigel poked his head in the door.

"I thought Seely was…" but the look on Nigel's face made Garret's voice trail off. "Come in. Come in and shut the door behind you."

Roz shut the door behind herself and Nigel and then locked it. Taking the file she had out from under her arm, she spread the blank papers out on Garret's desk, and motioned the two men to her. From all aspects, it looked as if they were simply discussing the case.

"It's about Jordan, isn't it?" Nigel asked, the anxiety in his voice palpable.

"Sort of. Boy Wonder took off after her," Roz replied.

"Woody?" Garret and Nigel asked in unison.

Roz nodded, and tapped a piece of paper with her finger, keeping up the pretext of discussing a case. "Yep. Lu tried to find him today…and he's nowhere in Boston. His cell phone and service revolver are at his apartment and he's AWOL. Lu's pitching a bitchin' fit. She's had the security tapes pulled at Logan, Amtrak, the T…even Greyhound."

"But those security tapes have live feed…I can download it," Nigel responded. "And that's a lot faster than going through the red tape of requesting security videos from the Federal Board of Transportation."

Roz eyed him evenly. "I know that. And you know that. But Blondie over there doesn't have a fucking clue."

Nigel looked at Garret for confirmation. The chief ME nodded. "Just don't get caught," he cautioned. "I have no doubt Lu wouldn't mind bringing everybody down that she can with this case."

Nigel stood. "Lu Simmons has no idea who she's dealing with," he said quietly before leaving Garret's office to begin the download. "This is one of those times I am exceedingly thankful for my training in Her Majesty's Secret Service."

Roz looked at the criminalist, a bit startled at that confession. She had no idea and her face echoed it. Garret chuckled at her. "It's not a fact everyone knows…consider yourself one of the chosen few."

She nodded and gathered up the "file" to get ready to leave. "Thanks," she said to both of the men. "I…we…the detectives just think they're both innocent. That Lu is gunning for the wrong people." She walked to the door and turned back to face them. "And I wanted you to know that Hoyt was still loyal to Jordan. He may have had his head up his ass for a while, but he still cares for her….and if there's a hero to be had in all this besides Cavanaugh, it's him."


	5. Come with Us

**Chapter 5**

**Come with Us**

Three months. It had been three long months of gathering evidence against this judge Gordon who Woody and Jordan were now sure had been behind J.D.'s murder and Jordan's framing and the time had taken it's toll on all involved in the search for answers.

Woody looked over at Jordan, lying on the bed in their twentieth, thirtieth…who even kept count anymore…motel room. Her hair she had let go back to the natural color which they could no longer afford to keep buying dye for in order to keep it disguised and with its loss so had she lost most of the resolve she had for hiding her fears about what would come of her when they were finally caught.

"Hey," Woody said softly and looked up from the list of storage units Gordon rented out that Jordan had broken into his office to find. Woody had been iffy about whether it was a good idea to have her go in posing as a part of the cleaning crew until Jordan had smiled sweetly and promised him she'd keep the outfit for some night she was feeling creative in bed. He knew she was mostly joking, the times they made love were few and far between with the lack of sleep, and the homesickness they both felt.

The money they had was wearing thin but not as thin as their patience for learning every step of Gordon's day, every move his closest employees made, even how he took his coffee at the Starbucks he stopped at every morning before he went in to work.

"Hey." Jordan said back and turned over the pile of papers she had been going through and looking over at Woody. "What do you think about following his chauffer to that…" she started and Woody shook his head.

"He's been three times this month already, his wife starts to get suspicious if he's working late more than that in a month." Woody said before she could even finish the thought. Woody had the good sense to take a moment to lament the state of their own social lives at this point. The people they followed were generally of a different sort, politicians who attended the best of high society parties which Woody acted as a server at several of, but regardless of what they were doing they were actually doing something. Something that wasn't spending most of a day going over paperwork and computer files.

When Jordan just nodded, not even bothering to put up a fight with Woody over the subject he finally saw for the first time in so many months the toll their time on the run had taken on Jordan emotionally and physically. He got up and went over to the bed, sitting down beside her and moving the stack of papers to the nightstand. When Jordan looked at him puzzled he just smiled sadly.

"You look like hell." He said and Jordan snorted and propped her head up on one arm.

"Gee, thanks sport." Jordan quipped and yawned heavily. The only thing she could do was emit a mirthless laugh with a smile that didn't reach her eyes. The smile disappeared when Woody reached for her hand as he stood again, tugging her to her feet.

"Come on…" he said pulling her towards the door to their little room as he grabbed his wallet. He couldn't help but smile at the stunned look on Jordan's face. It was the same shell shocked look she had when he pulled her up onto stage at the Karaoke bar in LA what seemed like a lifetime ago.

"Wh..what? Why? Where are we going? We have things to look over still and I…" she stopped when Woody put a hand over her mouth to quiet her. If she was feeling more herself she probably would have bit his palm for the boorish gesture but she just furrowed her brow and decided to let him explain.

"You need to get out of this room before you have a stroke…I mean, Jesus Jordan, look at us.." he said gesturing toward the mirror over the dresser. Jordan followed his gaze and wasn't surprised to see skeleton's of the people they had once been. Her skin was more pale, a result of spending little time outside in the sun and Woody was more gaunt, a result of months of missed gym visits. The idea of leaving their room for just a little was tempting to Jordan but she had to keep the ultimate goal in mind.

"But our files..we're so close Woody.." She sighed. "We've got enough to at least warrant an investigation into Gordon…yes, but I want to nail the son of a bitch to the wall and.." Woody felt one of her rants coming on and instead of listening to it he kissed her deeply to shut her up. When he finally pulled back he smiled down into her eyes.

"Jordan, I mean this in the nicest way possible but shut up and please just come to like…the park with me..no no! The mall, yeah yeah, we'll have a picnic looking up at the Washington Monument." He said taking both of her hands and pulling her towards the door.

Jordan laughed lightheartedly for the first time in a while. It was hard not to when Woody's laughter was so infectious. She went along with it until he opened the door and she stopped in the threshold like she'd hit a brick wall.

"What?" Woody asked as the smile ran away from his face and his shoulders slumped a little.

Jordan looked around the room and then her eyes shifted nervously around the parking lot outside. "What if someone sees us out?" she asked softly.

"If they knew where we were we'd have been caught by now Jordan…come on, we need to get away from this stuff, just an hour…then we'll come right back I promise.." he said with the big goofy smile that always seemed to get him his way with Jordan.

Jordan was torn between the work she knew still needed to be done and the desire to go with Woody somewhere that the dismal monotony of the life they now led would be forgotten, at least for a little while.

She was about to protest when he blindsided her with one of his most charming smiles and instead she let out a low groan of frustrated acceptance and Woody's hand was instantly gripping hers, pulling her towards the door.

"Funnel cake?" Jordan asked raising her eyebrows at Woody as they made their way down the path of one of D.C.'s more low key parks. "This is your idea of a picnic on the mall?" she asked shaking her head and fed him a bite, laughing when the powdered sugar made a mustache on his face which she wiped away with her finger tips.

Woody just shrugged and laughed. "Hey, I thought you were a cheap date? Pizza and a grainy movie where I have to spend 20 minutes dancing around the room trying to get the rabbit ears in the best position for reception usually does it for ya.." he winked and offered her a sip of his soda which Jordan gladly took with a smile.

"Well don't think life's going to be that simple once this whole mess is over, I'll expect weekly meals at the best restaurants in town, fresh flowers every day at my desk.." She said with a playful smile and Woody grabbed her and kissed her again as he walked them in a little circle and held the plate of funnel cake out away from her as she tried to grab some more.

"Alright, alright…truce, now hand over the friend batter and no one gets hurt.." she said placing a hand on his thigh and squeezing just close enough to his crotch to make him think better of keeping the food away from her any longer.

With a nervous laugh Woody handed her back the plate. "Deal.." he chuckled and looked up as they reached a corner and a Starbucks. "Well, might as well fill up…we've got another long night ahead of us looking at…" He started but Jordan cut him off.

"Ooo ooo…let me guess! More files!" she said with the best fake enthusiasm she could muster as they went around the corner and into the Starbucks as Woody threw the funnel cake plate and soda away in the can outside.

A half block away Lu Simmons tried to ignore the ache in the pit of her stomach at seeing Woody so happy with her. Even on the run, in hiding every day for three months he still looked happier with Jordan than he ever was when he was with her. It may not have surprised her but it still hurt. It was in the past few months since Woody had swiftly put an end to their relationship that Lu had chided herself for being so stupid as to think that those feelings she saw so visibly on the surface of his face that he had for Jordan would just disappear when they began dating.

But she wasn't hear to spy on their new intimate little life together, she was here to take them under arrest. Jordan for violating her bail terms and Woody for aiding a felon. She looked to her left and right, signaling the plainclothes she had with her to make their move towards the entrance from both the left and the right while she headed in from the front and the blood pounded in her ears.

It was Woody who spotted her first, his laughter at something Jordan had said fading as he raised his eyes to the last woman in his life. A big part of Woody wished this was just a case of a jealous ex, hunting down her former lover to give him Hell for leaving the way he did. The other part of him wished it WAS for giving him Hell but he knew Lu was there not as a woman scorned but as a cop.

"Shit." He mumbled and took a long sip of his coffee as Lu entered the coffee shop and headed towards them.

"Wha…" Jordan started but the look on Woody's face told her the answer to the question she was about to ask. She followed his gaze towards the door and saw Lu Simmons striding towards them, easily, calmly because she knew that she had them and they couldn't do a thing about it.

There was ice in the other woman's eyes and Jordan's first thought was of Medusa as she reached over placing a hand on Woody's arm and was mildly relieved to feel the warm skin of his arm instead of the cold of smoothness of stone.

The gesture hadn't gone unnoticed by Lu and she picked up her pace, worrying for a moment that they might actually try to run.

"Detective." Woody said coolly and took another long drag of his coffee. "Buy you a cup?" he asked and Lu sighed and looked to the other officers siding up to the table and back to Woody. "Come with us." She said softly but clearly and Woody and Jordan shared a knowing glance and stood from the table before they all headed outside together to a car Lu had waiting outside and a little ways down the street.

She tried to ignore it as they walked and Woody asked why they weren't putting them in cuffs as he reached out to hold Jordan's hand. "That shouldn't be necessary." She said warningly and opened the door to let them both climb in back.

Woody held her gaze for a long few moments, neither of them blinking until Jordan gently tugged Woody's hand by the fingertips and he glanced over at her. "Come on." Jordan said softly and released his hand to climb into the car, knowing he'd be right behind her. And he was.


	6. Back to Boston

**Chapter Six**

**Back to Boston**

Lu had already been to their tiny, cheap hotel room and searched everything. Clothing. Files. Computer. Bathroom. She had the other officers load up the evidence in boxes and bags and put it in the trunk of her car.

The one still unmade bed didn't escape her attention. It was the final nail in the coffin of whatever relationship she had hoped to hang on to Woody with. With a sigh and then a sneer, she had turned away from it, barking orders at the other officers to "be quick and get all this shit marked as evidence and in the trunk of my car."

Jordan was going down. And Hoyt was going with her.

Then seeing them innocently sharing funnel cake and conversation, just drove the nail tighter in the lid of their relationship coffin. Despite the fact she was a detective, despite the fact she was professional, Lu saw red and green. Red for the anger she felt that two officers of the court had turned tail and gone fugitive and green for the jealousy she felt knowing that Woody had not only been with another woman, but had always chosen Jordan over her.

No matter what Lu did to try to win Woody completely. It was never enough. It was never good enough. _She_ had never been good enough.

But so what? Whatever she and Hoyt had was over. And now, whatever he and Jordan had was over, too. Both of them would be sent away for a long time. Hoyt for at least fifteen years.

Jordan probably for life. If she ever did get out of jail for murdering JD, she'd be too old to act on any left over passion with Hoyt. Of course by then, he'd probably had forgotten all about the leggy ME and moved on with whatever remnants were left over with his life.

Lu gave a small, cynical, self-satisfied smile. Fate does have an odd sense of humor. She was happy to have contributed her part.

* * *

For Jordan and Woody the drive back to Boston was long and quiet. As the hours passed, nothing was said between the two because it "could be held against them in a court of law," as Lu reminded them when she cheerfully Mandorized them.

Instead they held hands and gave each other long glances from time to time – the little touches and soft sighs holding more meaning right now than words ever could. It was then Jordan realized _just_ how much Woody had sacrificed for her. Even if she was found innocent, his career could quite possible be toast. Or at least seriously stymied for the next several years.

All because he loved her. Loved her enough to put it all on the line for her one more time. But this time, Jordan didn't know if he'd ever recover half of what he gave up for her. Aiding and abetting a fugitive was bad enough. Becoming one yourself, especially when you're a police officer, was another degree of bad.

But Woody had know that when he hopped an Amtrak for DC. He knew it, but yet believed enough in her and her innocence that he willingly threw it all away. He came to her rescue one more time.

Just like he had a half a dozen times during their friendship. Not to mention the times he saved her from herself. Jordan may have given up on fairytales coming true at the ripe old age of ten, but somehow she had still been handed her white knight and he was still sitting beside her.

She softly squeezed his hand before turning it over, palm-side up. Then with the tip of her index finger spelled out _I love you_ in his palm. Woody nodded and linked their fingers together and tugged her closer, letting her know they were still in this thing together.

Together now. Just like they really always had been. Sometimes they had been out of step and out of sync, but their hearts had really always been together.

And as they arrived back at Boston, the feeling of togetherness would have to last them. Because as soon as they pulled up at the Nineteenth, they were both cuffed and led away to booking.

And then to separate jail cells.

* * *

Orange was never his color. Woody looked ruefully at the orange jump suit provided by the tax payers of Boston. The one that blared INMATE on the back across the shoulders and then PROPERTY OF THE BOSTON POLICE DEPARTMENT under that.

No. Orange wasn't his color. It made his skin look sallow and emphasized the circles under his eyes. Blue was his color.

But he'd better get used to orange. At least in the near future. Woody sighed and sat down on the thin, hard mattress of the bed in his jail cell. At least he was alone and didn't have to share his spacious quarters with anyone – a fact he was incredibly thankful for at the moment. Now he could sit and worry about Jordan in peace.

And he did worry. He knew that she was stripped searched, as he had been. He just prayed that it was Lois or Santana or Roz that had been there. That Jordan didn't have to suffer the ignominy of Lu watching. Jordan was then ordered to shower and change into an orange jumpsuit much like his own.

He knew the drill. He was – no, had been – a detective for too many years not to be intimately acquainted with booking.

_Had been_. Those two words pretty much summed up his career.

"Hoyt, what the hell were you thinking?" The sudden sound Seely's voice brought Woody out of his dark thoughts.

Woody looked up to see Matt leaning against the jail wall, staring at him through the bars.

"I mean I know you've always had the hots for Cavanaugh, but damn, man. You really laid it all on the line for her this time."

"Hey, Matt," Woody acknowledged weakly. He really wasn't in the mood for company.

Matt pulled away from the wall to stand directly in front of the bars of Woody's cell. "I hope it was worth it. I hope she appreciates what this is going to cost you."

"Cost me?" Woody played dumb.

"Your career, man. Even _if_ you get out of here, you know you're never going to be allowed back on the force."

"Even if Jordan's innocent?"

"You aided and abetted a fugitive. I'm afraid the Chief won't like that even if Jordan's innocent."

"If she's innocent, then she wasn't a fugitive. Not really. I was simply helping her prove her innocence in a system that was trying to railroad her into a guilty verdict."

"Yeah. Right."

"And when Jordan is proven innocent, I'm not sure I want to be a part of a system that won't listen to the truth. The real killer is still out there. And could kill again."

Matt regarded him silently for a long moment. "You're sure Jordan didn't do it." It wasn't a question.

"I know she didn't."

"And you've got proof."

Woody nodded. "A lot of it. We just about had the whole case tied up when Lu descended on us like a bat out of hell."

Matt sighed and rubbed the back of his head. "Lu's convinced Jordan killed JD. Or at the very least, was involved in it somehow. And she's the lead detective."

"The only thing Jordan is guilty of is inviting JD up for Lily's wedding. She just unknowingly provided a good cover for the real killer."

Matt closed his eyes. "Is this your heart or your head talking, Hoyt?"

Woody stood and walked over to the door of his jail cell, looking Matt straight in the eyes. "The files and laptop that Lu took out of our hotel room….go through them."

Seely opened his eyes "She has that stuff locked in evidence. The Pope himself can't touch it without her permission."

"Matt…you have to try. For my sake. For Jordan's sake."

"But…."

"Get Nigel to help. He not only can break into the evidence locker, he can get what you need off the computer. Lu's gunning for us. She's not going to listen to reason or the evidence."

"What makes you think she'll listen to me?"

Woody took a deep breath and prayed his past relationships would bear on future freedom. "Bypass Simmons. Take it straight to Walcott."


	7. Arraignment

**Chapter 7**

**Arraignment**

Matt Seeley knew that everything he was about to involve himself in was illegal. He hoped that after the talk he'd had with Hoyt it wouldn't matter by the days end whether what he was scheming to do was legal or not.

"Are you sure you're thinking with the right head here Hoyt? Cause I don't want my ass in the fire because you're getting led around by your dick.." Matt warned quietly as he leaned his head in to the bars of Woody's holding cell.

Woody nodded. He could certainly see how the situation looked to….well, everyone. While he knew he'd gone to DC to help his friend who he was 100 sure was completely innocent, to outsiders it looked like some doofus hicktown cop following his puppy love, intent on being with her as long as he could before they were caught.

"I promise you that's not the case Seeley….Jordan is innocent. If it's not Gordon who is corrupt, it sure as Hell is someone who's working for him." Woody said with a passionate whisper that moved something inside his typically unemotional co-worker. Hoyt didn't just BELIEVE Jordan Cavanaugh was innocent. He knew it.

He held Woody's gaze for a long few moments. "What makes you so sure Walcott is going to be more understanding than Simmons? I mean, you know the reputation that follows her…" Matt said nodding and glanced towards the door. "What makes you so special that you think she'll be merciful to all of us when all this comes raining down like fire and brimstone?" he asked shaking his head. Woody sighed and leaned with both arms on the bars in front of him, a small smile creeping to his lips.

"Because….I grow on people," he said simply and nodded to his co-worker, his friend. "Please Matt…just…just go talk to Nigel…he'll know what to do…" he said and Seeley stared him down another minute before nodding and starting for the door.

"Oh and Seeley…" Woody called out, leaning his head against the bars as Matt stopped in the doorway. "If you see Jordan…" he started and opened his mouth a few times, not sure what to say.

"Yeah…I will.." he nodded, knowing by the look on his face that Woody wanted someone to make sure she was okay.

* * *

Seeley wasn't surprised by the willingness of the morgue staff to back up their own, always ready to go the extra mile…or ten to protect one another.

"And you don't see a problem with this….at all?" He asked as Nigel pulled on a coat and shut down his computer.

"Uhh…no," Nigel said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Woody and Jordan are my friends. I know Jordan, and I know Woody. Jordan could never have done this. And if Woody was willing to put his life and career on the line for her, then Woody's knows that, too," he nodded stuffing an array of gadgets in his satchel.

"Alright…." Matt said with a sigh and followed Nigel out the swinging trace evidence doors. "But if I end up in an orange jumpsuit spooning Hoyt on a prison mattress, it's on your head…" he warned as they went down the hall to catch the elevator.

* * *

"I'm not even going to ASK where you got this…" Renee Walcott said dropping a legal pad with both Woody and Jordan's handwriting covering it in little notes and dates and information onto the interrogation room table where Detective Seeley and Dr. Townsend had asked her to meet with them.

They had lots of theories, accusations, and at least two boxes of evidence with the police seals that had been placed on them ripped open.

"And besides that you broke the seal on the evidence boxes, how am I supposed to know what is or isn't a part of the original evidence?" She asked and Nigel held up the evidence list.

"Check it…there isn't anything on this list..SIGNED BY DETECTIVE SIMMONS…that isn't sitting right in front of us…we just wanted to go over the evidence Ms. Walcott…nothing more nothing less…" Nigel said with a sigh. "Our friends are sitting in jail because of a truth that we are certain lies in this evidence.." he pleaded, looking up into her eyes as she stood over the two seated men, arms folded.

She looked at Nigel for a long few minutes and then sighed. "You've got an hour…give me something to go on or the pretrial hearings begin for Woody and Jordan.." she warned and Nigel and Matt looked at each other and nodded.

"Thank you, Ma'am," they both said together and Walcott just went to the door, turning back to look at them once more. "Don't make me look like an idiot or thanking me will be the last thing on your minds.." she promised and let the door shut behind her.

Seeley turned to look at Nigel and then at the evidence. "I changed my mind…if we go down for this, YOU get to spoon Hoyt on a prison mattress," he said and flipped the lid off of one of the boxes.

* * *

Woody lay in his cell staring at the ceiling and thinking. If he was a smart man he thought he should be thinking about how to get himself out of this situation completely, but all he could think of was her. How was Jordan doing? Was she scared? Was she thinking of him too?

He turned over and looked at the wall, knowing the other holding cells were on the other side of him. He couldn't help but get up and go over to the wall, gently resting a palm flat on the cool cement, his forehead resting against it as well.

"Jordan…" he whispered softly and closed his eyes.

* * *

On the other side of the wall Jordan lay on her bunk on her side, one hand up resting on the cool smooth wall of the jail cell.

She'd been here enough times to know that the holding cell Woody was in was most likely on the other side of the wall she was touching. She knew she should have been worried about what was to come of her, if she would spend the rest of her life in jail…but all she could think about was this man on the other side of the wall that was there for her. Because of her.

Even if she was found innocent and the charges dropped there was a very good chance Woody would no longer be welcomed back to the Boston PD. Jordan knew that Woody's work was his life. He loved it more than just about anything. She swallowed a lump in her throat and rested her forehead to the wall as well, because she also knew that after all of the times he had laid his job or his life on the line, it was for her. He loved her more than his job, more than his life.

"Woody…" She whispered softly and closed her eyes.

* * *

Nigel and Matt worked long into the night. When the hour Walcott gave them ran out, they only had one piece of evidence to give her in Jordan's favor. Luckily, that was all Walcott needed to at least keep the investigation open and have something to go off of when the pretrial began.

"But I thought you said if we figured this out then there wouldn't BE a trial?" Nigel asked running a hand through his hair.

Renee was reading the paper in her hand. "This is just a piece of the puzzle, it'll slow down the trial…but you need to bring me all of the pieces if you wanna see your friends go free." And with that she left the room, leaving them for a second time that day.

The next day the arraignment hearing was set. When they brought Woody and Jordan into the courtroom the spark of electricity that shot between the two of them was almost visible to the people in the room, like a living breathing thing the connection between these two moved as they were seated beside one another, on the prosecution side was Renee Walcott.

There were non-guilty pleas from both Woody and Jordan. The offer of bail was withheld as Jordan had already fled once and Woody was just as big a risk this time.

"The defendants will remain in holding at a minimum security facility throughout these proceedings." The judge said the words and Woody and Jordan looked at each other.

"It's okay…we'll be okay, Nigel, Bug, Garret…they'll find the truth Jordan," he said and talked fast, knowing that they really weren't supposed to be talking but he had to reassure her. To keep the fight in her if they were ever to see through this.

"Please remove the defendants to their holding cells until arrangements can be made to move them."

Woody heard the words but continued to talk quietly to Jordan.

"They will…and I'm so sorry, Woody…" Jordan said quietly, shaking her head. "This is all my fault." She said and he shook his head back at her.

"Don't worry about me, I can handle me…Worry about getting yourself out of this Jordan…please," he whispered back as they were forced to stand and Woody quickly leaned in to kiss her lips.

She nodded and they were led out of separate doors, back to their holding cells while they waited for their separate rides to prison.


	8. Falling into Place

**Chapter Eight**

**Falling into Place**

_Bring me all the pieces of the puzzle…_

That's what Walcott had told Nigel and Seely to do if Jordan and Woody were to ever avoid a trial and serious jail time. They had found one piece and it was enough to delay the trial, but it wasn't enough to exonerate their friends.

Unfortunately, it was all they had. Nigel had taken that piece of evidence and twisted it everyway he could, hoping to wring another drop of something…anything… that would lead them to another piece of evidence and hopefully start a chain reaction that would free Jordan and Woody.

Every spare moment in the passing weeks found both men locked away in Nigel's office, pouring over the details of the case, re-running tests, looking at the case from different angles. Then carefully hiding the evidence boxes from Lu's prying eyes.

"Gordon…It still all revolves around Gordon…" Seely mused late one night when he and Nigel were once again re-hashing the evidence.

"JD was fixated on him, and from the oceans of notes that Woody and Jordan made, the fixation was valid," Nigel replied, his eyes still glued to his computer screen.

"But what do we know? We suspect he'd taken bribes. We know he let guilty men go free because of 'lack of evidence.' My question is, where'd the evidence go? And who was paying off the judge to lose the evidence?"

Nigel nodded. Those were the questions that JD wanted answered. And the man had gotten close enough to answers that it cost him his life. Nigel had no doubt that Woody and Jordan had gotten even closer and if Lu hadn't of turned into a one-woman female bounty hunter operation, they would have found those answers and returned to Boston free and clear, and with the case solved.

Unfortunately, Simmons had played her hand. And this time she did have the law on her side. Woody and Jordan were fugitives. Not that Nigel didn't doubt for a moment that jealousy may have driven the female detective's pursuit for justice. And that pursuit interrupted Woody and Jordan just at the moment they were within a hair's breadth of solving the case. Just like an unlucky penny, Lu showed up at the worst moment.

Just like now.

"Good evening, gentlemen," the cool blonde said from the doorway of Nigel's office. "You two certainly look busy." She pulled herself off the door jamb she was leaning on and strolled into the lab like she owned it. "So tell me…why are _my_ evidence boxes in here instead of the evidence locker and just _what the hell do you think you're doing?_"

* * *

Minimum security prisons still meant orange jumpsuits and still meant being in a cell. Only this time, both Woody and Jordan were in solitary confinement, due to their respective jobs. Both worked in law enforcement. The general population of any prison, even a minimum security prison, didn't take kindly to law enforcement officials living behind bars. So to avoid any further bad publicity from an already too-well publicized case, the prison officials had ordered both Woody and Jordan into solitary confinement – for their own safety.

Both had a grainy television set, a few books, paper and pen, and lots of time on their hands to keep them company. And of the two, Jordan worried about Woody the most. He shouldn't have put his career on the line for her. He should have stayed in Boston. She should have sent him back home the minute he showed up at her cheap hotel room. _She should have, she should have, she should have…_ the thoughts ringed her mind and her narrow jail cell condemning her well before she would ever be pronounced guilty by some ill-informed jury that had only heard half the evidence.

Between that and the horribly acted soap operas that overran daytime television, Jordan knew her sanity would be in question before her case ever went to trial.

Woody had told her he'd be fine. Just take care of herself. That Garret, Bug, and Nigel would be working hard to find the rest of the evidence to exonerate them. She had clung to those words, just like she had let her lips cling to his during that last brief, sweet kiss. But Jordan was better equipped to handle solitary confinement than Woody was. She had lived a good chunk of her life alone, not allowing but a few well-chosen individuals into her inner circle.

Woody hadn't. His life was like an open book and like an eager cocker spaniel, the more friends the better. Jordan worried what solitary confinement was doing to him.

And if he resented her yet.

She glanced at the one picture taped to the wall of her cell…the only one she had been allowed to bring in. It was one of him and her at Lily's last Christmas party. Eyes and faces glowing from the excitement of the season and maybe just one too many glasses of wine.

Back when their futures together still held so much promise, even if they didn't realize it. And technically, Woody could still have a future. Jordan sighed and knew what she had to do. She had to do everything she could to minimize the impact on Woody and his career. She would have to shift the blame for everything totally on her and allow her attorney to work with his to maximize the damage control for him. Even though Jordan was innocent of everything except running from Boston when she shouldn't have.

After everything Woody had done for her, it was the least she could do for him. _That's what people do when they're in love_…._God, I miss you Woody. Hang in there…one way or the other it will all be over soon…_

Jordan dug her attorney's phone number out of the pocket of her orange jumpsuit and called for the guard. "I need to make a phone call…"

* * *

It was gone. Like in the blink of an eye and the beat of a heart, Lu had swept in the lab, ordered a uniform to secure the boxes of evidence, and had them sent back to the evidence locker.

"But Walcott said," Seely protested.

"If she did, I never heard about it," Lu replied smoothly. "And it's my case. Protocol says I at least should have been notified and present when the evidence was reviewed."

"Go ask her yourself, Simmons."

"I will first thing Monday morning. Until then," she closed the lid to the last box and resealed it, "you two are not to go near that locker. Do you hear me? If you do, I'll tell the chief. I'll call Walcott Monday and see when she and I can meet about you 'going back over the evidence'."

"But that could take days," Seely continued to protest.

"I know. Protocol can be a bitch, can't it? Have a nice weekend," was her parting barb as she followed the last uniformed officer out of the lab and to the elevators.

Matt sighed in defeat. It looked as if he and Nigel might both be spooning Woody in a jail cell before this was over. Balefully he wondered if he could some how still finagle a job at his dad's publishing company and salvage some sort of future for himself. Then he realized that Nigel had been silent during the entire exchange between him and Lu. "What's the matter with you?" he spat out angrily at the Brit. "Lu comes in like a banshee, leaves with everything we've got, and you don't open your freakin' mouth one time. Not once. What gives?"

Nigel remained silent in front of his computer screen for another moment. "She didn't leave with everything we have, mate."

"She didn't?" Matt ran his hand down the back of his head, resting it on his neck for a moment. "It sure looks like she did."

"Nah. The computer files? The encrypted computer files that JD had on a flash drive that he made sure Jordan got?"

Matt nodded.

"I transferred them to my hard drive weeks ago."

"So? We've gone over them time and time again…there's nothing there that we didn't already know."

Nigel shook his head. "No. There was something wonky about them. So I sent copies of them to a friend of mine at MIT. I just got his results back." Nigel's lips turned up into a Cheshire cat-like grin.

"Care to share?"

"There's an encryption behind the encryption." Nigel turned his laptop around for Matt to see.

"Well I'll be damned…"


	9. I’d Do It Again in a Heartbeat

**I'd Do It Again in a Heartbeat**

"You know…I really don't mind your squirrelly nerd friends…." Matt said clapping Nigel on the shoulder once hard, jarring the spindly Brit and causing him to roll his eyes at his law enforcement companion. "Especially when they can figure out crap like this.." Matt nodded, waving a hand over the computer screen.

Nigel rolled his eyes yet again. "And….I'm sure they think you're just the cat's meow too luv." He mumbled and worked quickly to transfer the unscrambled files to his hard drive…before Lu and her flying monkeys could return for anything they might have missed.

"Whatever…" Seeley said shaking his head as he read the files over Nigel's shoulder. "THIS is the holy grail for this case man, Jordan and Woody…" he said nodding proudly. "This is what they were looking for all those months…THIS is what's going to get them out of the slammer…" he nodded and Nigel cast him a puzzled look, the young detective's choice of wording a stark contrast with what Nigel knew of his pedigree.

"Okay well…you go tell the Godfather and I'll tell Clamenza to pull the car around.." he said in a mocking New York Italian accent.

Matt gave him a searing look, the only thing on his body betraying his embarrassment, his pinking ears which he rubbed one of and turned to head out the door.

"Whatever…just print out the files will ya? I'm gonna go see Walcott." He said as he scurried out the door on his way to the elevator.

Nigel turned back to the computer, a feeling of hope swelling in his chest.

* * *

In the same way that hope was filling Nigel's chest, so at the same time was a deepening feeling of dread filling Jordan and Woody's.

It'd been several weeks since they'd been moved to their solitary confinement. Woody and Jordan had all of their meals brought to them. They were allowed an hour a day in the jail yard also alone.

While Jordan took solace in the knowledge that their friends were helping her and Woody on the road to freedom, Woody spent most of his days on a nearly sickening loop of activity.

For most of the day he slept. The first week he had watched so much TV that he began to get horrible eye strain. He was trying to use the TV as a crutch. Something to distract him from thinking about Jordan and the trouble they were in if their friends couldn't find the answers they needed.

If he'd known Jordan was the one persevering, knowing with all of her heart and soul that somehow their friends would save them and HE was the one quietly brooding, belief that they'd soon be released at the very end of a looooong tunnel of doubt, Woody would have thought it quite ironic.

Instead he knew nothing at all of Jordan except what Garret told him on his weekly visits. It was funny, Woody had told Garret once that he kind of looked at him as a father figure and now he was making weekly visits to both Woody and Jordan, keeping each other updated on the other as well as how Nigel and Seeley were doing with the evidence (when he could if a guard was not around at the moment).

Garret had seemed sincere in his description of Jordan's state. Not that Woody had hoped she'd be as downtrodden and heartbroken as he was at not having her near after so many months together, that wasn't the case. He just wished that she would have sent him some message, some little communication that let him know she was missing him as terribly as he was missing her.

It was during one such meeting that Woody had requested Garret not share with Jordan how bad he was doing in lockup.

'_It's bad enough that she thinks she's the reason I'm in here to begin with,_' he'd said raking a nervous hand through his hair. '_I don't need her worrying about how I'm not doing well with the accommodations…_' Garret had simply watched Woody for a long moment, and then inquired into how he was really doing.

The fatherly gentleness with which he spoke the words opened the flood gates for Woody. He rubbed his eyes with the heels of his hands and begged the chief M.E. not to tell Jordan of the soul baring description of how tough life in solitary had been for him so far.

'_I won't tell her anything…_' Dr. Macy had promised. 'T_echnically, I CAN'T tell her anything but as long as it's not case related…_' he had started, leaving the floor open for Woody to pass any quick messages.

Woody's bright blues quickly snapped to Garret's soft browns. '_Just tell her…tell her I'm thinking of her…a lot…and that I miss her…_' he trailed off and fiddled with his fingers. '_In a lot of ways.._' he mumbled, embarrassed to be discussing things like this in front of this man who was important to both himself and Jordan.

'_Sure, I can do that_.' Garret responded casually, not wanting to embarrass Woody anymore than he seemed to be and stood from his chair. '_I'll see you next week, just…take care of yourself detective, that's an order,_' he said and Woody smiled, appreciating that he called him by his job title even with as little hope as there was of him being able to return to it.

'_Thanks…I will._' Woody nodded, trying to put on a brave face for this man who he respected so much.

Woody watched Garret leave the visitors room and continue down the long hall to the front, not looking away until his head had disappeared around the corner.

'_Let's go,_' the guard said nodding towards the prisoner door leading back to his cell.

Woody nodded silently and stood, walking ahead of the guard on the slow walk back to his own private Hell.

* * *

Returning back to the morgue after one such visit to see Jordan and Woody, Dr. Macy was accosted in the hallway by a very energetic Nigel. He was rambling so quickly as he walked around Garret in a circle following him to his office.

"Woah, woah, Nigel…easy, what are you talking about? Start from the beginning." He said raising his hands at the doorway to his office.

Nigel took a breath, ran a hand through his hair and nodded. "Right..right..well, you know how Lu's come with her band of…" he searched for a word which Garret gave him.

"…Flying monkeys."

"Right… well, she didn't get that flash drive that Jordan had on her keychain because it was never REALLY a part of the investigation…Pollack put it on Jordan's keys knowing that something was going to happen to him and he wanted her to be the one to put the pieces together after he…well, when he was no longer able to.." Nigel said still trying to be calm.

"Is there a point to all this or are you just working distraction detail for someone trying to sneak a keg out of here?" Garret asked gruffly and folded his arms.

"There WAS something on those encrypted files…" Nigel said, his words betraying the seriousness of what was written in these files.

"What? What was it?" Garret asked and Nigel held up a print out of the Terracoal mining disaster story.

* * *

"And you were JUST on your way to bring me this flash drive when you accidentally dropped it into the USB port on a computer and these files popped up?" Renee Walcott deadpanned as she briefly raised her eyebrows from the stack of files on the Terracoal mining disaster and connections JD Pollack had made to the circumstances surrounding the suspicious deaths of survivors of the collapse. And then there was Gordon. Even without criminal law degree Garret and Nigel had easily connected the dots, sure that this judge had somehow been involved in some kind of cover-up regarding the disaster and the following deaths of those that survived it.

Garret gave Nigel a disapproving look that only reached as far as his chin.

"Yeah sure, that'll do." Nigel mumbled and moved over to stand next to her, ready to argue his case again if need be. "You see…this judge he's named here…Gordon..his name is connect.."

Renee held up a hand. "Yeah…easy hot shot, I know what I'm looking at here…" She said moving away from Nigel and sitting against the edge of her desk.

After a few moments of reading she looked up and glanced between the two hopeful faces in front of her, a seldom seen tight smile pulled across her lips as she did.

* * *

"Good evening Detective Hoyt…" Renee Walcott said as a guard buzzed her into solitary confinement.

Woody's brow furrowed and he sat up slowly on his cot, a look of puzzlement on his face. "Detective? Are you just being really mean or really nice Ms. Walcott?" he asked weakly.

Renee took in the sight of the man in front of her…or what was left of him. "Well, not to say that being on the DA's good side for the past several years was a good plan of action for you…." She started and had the guard open the door to Woody's cell. "But…being on the DA's good side for the past several years was a good plan of action for you…" She shrugged.

"That Judge, Judge Gordon, that you and Dr. Cav…Jordan had named over and over in your…" she stopped a moment and smirked. "fugitive notes.." Woody rolled his eyes slightly but nodded for her to continue, still not comfortable enough to make any move to step out of the cell he'd been calling home for so many weeks now. "He's connected to the Terracoal mining disaster a few months back," She started and held out a computer printed news story. "As well as the suspicious deaths of the survivors of that disaster…" she said and Woody's eyes filled with hope..

"So…so then we've…we've got him…that's it…" Woody said, the excitement raising in his voice but quickly fading with the look on Walcott's face. "What? What happened?" he asked holding the paper at his side now.

Renee looked at the guard who stepped back around the corner before she continued. "Judge Gordon killed himself at 10:37 this morning. Jumped out the window of his office to the ground below…" she said softly.

"He couldn't handle the guilt.." Woody said raising the paper again and looking at the smiling face of one of the young miners who had lost his life.

Renee nodded. "Well…be that as it may, it still means that you and Jordan were right…and we were able to connect Gordon to the bar tender there the night of Miss Lebowski's engagement party…and to the head of Terracoal who we believe personally delivered the message to J.D. Pollack to back off of this story by putting a bullet in his back…" she finished and Woody stepped finally out of the cell.

"So that means…" he said with a deep breath.

"Congratulations, Detective…you're a free man…" she smiled softly and Woody looked past her.

"And Jordan…" he started to ask and she cut him off.

"Is being given her street clothes and reinstatement as a Massachusetts Medical Examiner…" Walcott said and called for the guard.

"So…you're here to…" Woody said shrugging.

"Apologize to you on behalf of the DA's office and the Boston Police department and return your badge and gun to you once you get changed and leave the building." She said and Woody nodded slowly, still trying to get his wits about him as he was led to a room where he could change.

He was free. Jordan was free. And he knew exactly where he wanted to go as soon as he was released.

* * *

Jordan was still sitting in the middle of her dark apartment perched on the couch when Woody knocked. Suddenly free from the loneliness she'd had to live with for those weeks she wasn't sure what she should do, where she should go. She was only sure who she wanted to see.

In fact, she was dialing his cell phone when there was a knock on the door.

"Not…to be cliché…" Woody smiled softly as she opened the door and leaned against the door jam. "But man are you a sight for sore eyes.." he said and stepped forward, taking her cheeks in both hands and lowering his lips to hers for a long, passionate kiss.

When they pulled back Jordan's hands were still wrapped around Woody's wrists as she looked up into his eyes.

"Hi." She whispered with a smile.

"Hi yourself." Woody whispered back and looked into the apartment behind her. "Mind if I come in? I heard there was a past fugitives of the law reunion going on here tonight and I…" he started and for the umpteenth time that night was cut off by a woman standing in front of him.

"….Shut up you idiot…" Jordan said with her first laugh in weeks and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him inside and pushing the door shut with a foot.

Their reunion was gentle and slow, not at all rushed by having not been in each others arms since weeks and weeks ago.

Afterwards, they lay together in Jordan's bed holding each other close amidst the rumpled sheets.

"I think…my body is going into shock…" Woody chuckled. "Solitary for a month and now…" he grinned rubbing his nose against Jordan's cheek. "Not so solitary…" She smiled and turned over with her head on his chest.

They lay together quietly for a long few moments before Jordan lifted her head. She took in his pale skin, dry hair, the bags under his eyes that seemed to droop down to the dimples in his cheeks.

His face was more gaunt, more tired. He looked like he'd lost some weight again. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that because of me.." she said quietly.

Woody could let her hold the guilt for a lot of things she'd done over the years but this was one thing he couldn't let her feel guilty for.

"I chose to do that FOR you Jordan..you didn't ask me…" he said looking down at her. "You tried to keep me away from it…but I had to help you…I care too much about you to let anything happen to you…and besides…" Woody smiled, turning over onto her quickly. "I never believed, not even for One. Damn. Second that you killed Pollack. That's why I followed you. That's why I believed you. And that's why I'd do it again in a heartbeat.


End file.
